This debut, the first novel in a trilogy, is achingly romantic, terrifying, and filled with blistering action.

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

I know I could have read this through Net Galley, but without an e-reader I wasn't about to tackle a book this long. But this book sounds majorly awesome! A kick butt heroine, a cute guy, and lots and lots of action! Or, at least that's what I'm hoping for. I've heard mixed reviews, but I haven't read any of the negative reviews yet. Maybe I should, but I have my hopes up so high that I've been afraid to get tainted by negative reviews. I think it's time I look at a few just so I don't fall too hard.

So please help me out here. Has anyone read this book? Did you like it? Hate it? Why? I'm also curious about the ending. I know it's a trilogy, but is this one of those books where it wraps up nicely enough or am I going to be left completely hanging with a gigantic cliffhanger?

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game.

Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.

Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind.

Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.

His life depends on it.

Wow, another whopper. 543 pages and only the first book in a series!? This book is huge, and I have to say I've put it off for that reason. Do you feel the length of this book, or does it move quickly? I do like Edgar Allan Poe and I have heard some positive reviews, so I am curious. For those who have read this book already, should I read it now or should I wait until the rest of the books are published? I'm not in a rush and my memory is kind of terrible. Does this one have a lot of loose ends, little details, or cliffhangers I'll have to remember?

While you are waiting for your books, you can check out a review for another upcoming title, Deadly by Julie Chibbaro! Also in that post is my brand new Review Comparison feature. I would love to hear your feedback.

38 comments:

I read Angelfire and I didn't really like it. I wanted Ellie to be more committed to her duty and I wasn't on board with the forbidden romance that develops. There is a lot of action though and Will is cute although he suffers compared to Will from Firelight by Sophie Jordan in my eyes.I don't think the ending was a big cliffhanger but if you love the story, characters, and world, you'll probably be dying for the next book.

Omg! I LOVE Nevermore. That book is so awesome. I can't wait to read the sequel. Definitely a different cliffhanger. Varen and Isobel are great together. I'm totally crushing on Varen. Anyways....can't wait to read Angelife. Great picks :)

I am looking forward to reading Angelfire... I'm reading it for the Debut Author Challenge.I hadn't been planning on reading Nevermore, only because the plot sounded a little similar to Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side.

You know I had requested this along with a bunch of books to read from netgalley and never read any of them. -fail- u.u I really need an ebook because you're right its hard reading books on a computer or laptop. This is on my TBR though, I haven't actually heard much about it but I'm skeptical since I haven't read much good angel stories.

Bookworm, Hm, well I didn’t really like Will from Firelight, so maybe I’ll like Angelfire? :) Thanks for all the info!

Danny, Hehe, I was thinking of YOU when I said I read good Nevermore reviews :P You were the one who sold me on reading it. Now I just have to figure out if I can wait or not!

BLHmistress, Thanks for stopping by! I imagine Angelfire is on a lot of WoWs. It looks so good!

Julie, Ooh, capital letter love! That’s always a good thing. :) I read one line of Varen’s on someone’s Book Boyfriend meme and I was hooked on him!

Alice, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks and thanks for stopping by!

Sally, Oh no, a little slow? Hopefully it will pick up for you. I have Angelfire pre-ordered too :P

Marrion, LOL, yup, we’re waiting for the same book! I hope it’s a book well worth the wait.

Need Tea, I searched for and read your Nevermore review last night right after posting this. I like how you describe their relationship. I think we’re on the same page when it comes to relationships in books, so if you like it then I think I’ll like it. I’ll keep an eye out for your Angelfire review!

Stephanie, Oh no, I hope I’m fall into the group that loves it. I really am motivated by the great reviews for Nevermore. My only hangup now is hearing about that cliffhanger!

Jan von Harz, Yay! Only five more days to Angelfire! I think there are quite a bit more for the sequel to Nevermore :(

Vicki, That’s so frustrating! I hope they sort that out soon. I don’t have an e-reader, but the removal of the Kindle option has saddened a bunch of my bloggy friends. :(

Aleetha, I hope they do approve it! If not, at least you don’t have long to wait for the book’s release.

Nic, Oh wow that sounds like a crazy cliffhanger! It looks like the sequels won’t be published until 2012 and 2013! I think that’s a little too long for me to wait…Thanks for the info!

Books for Company, I know, I was expecting Angelfire to be something like 320 or so pages, not almost 500! That’s crazy long.

Madigan, I want to read it for the Debut Author Challenge too! Hm, does it sound like Jessica’s Guide? I hadn’t thought of it that way but now I’m going to have to go back and look. I did like Jessica’s Guide though.

Sandy, Oh no! Does it expire soon? I can’t blame you though. 464 pages! I do need an e-reader. I’m waiting for technology to get a little better and my wallet to get a little more filled :P I never really had much interest in getting one until I discovered Net Galley. I know what you mean about the angel stories. I think this one looks different though. More focused on action and less on romance, or, at least that’s what I’m hoping :P

I just had a look at my copy of Angelfire (which l had put on my kindle before they took the option away, but then my kindle broke!) and its 290ish pages. Obviously misses out a lot of what the proper version has or something?

543 pages is long for any book, let alone YA! Part of the reason I love YA books is that they tend to be a bit shorter, so I get to read more of them. It would take me a while to get through that long of a book.

I will say, though, that Angelfire did not seem that long to me. Maybe because I read it electronically, but I think more because it was just a good and engaging read.

I absolutely adored Nevermore, it was just such a different book and I loved that about it. It's probably not for everyone, but I loved it and was thoroughly invested in both characters by the end:) I really liked Angelfire as well, I'll be interested to see what you think!

Books for Company, Hm, that’s definitely a huge difference in pages! I wonder if your e-copy is missing a bunch of if the number I got is incorrect. I found my number on Goodreads. Sorry to hear about your Kindle!

Logan, It really is long! Then again though, I keep thinking of J.K. Rowling’s gigantic books and I didn’t have any trouble of hesitation devouring them. I do agree with you, I like that so many YA books are shorter because I can read more of them. The TBR is always looming over me and I feel guilty when I spend too much time with a book. :P Great to know Angelfire didn’t feel long!

Mia and Sofia, Great! Thanks for the feedback. :)

Lazy Girl, Doesn’t it?! Read Danny’s review if you ever need motivation! Thanks for the feedback about Angelfire. I’m not loving the e-reader thing either. I’m warming up to it, but I still have a harder time connecting to the book that way.

Cicely, Yay! Thumbs up for both books! I love it when I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying a book. That’s such a good feeling.

The Book Addicted Girl, I agree! They both look great. :)

Jenny, Ok, I think it’s official, all of my go-to bloggers have loved Nevermore. I think I need to read this book. I’m so glad to hear you liked Angelfire too!

Jess, Thanks for the feedback about Nevermore. You said exactly what I was hoping to hear!

I just finished Angelfire and put up my review! I really enjoyed it, and while I can see the negatives in some reviews, I'm definitely hooked and eager to read the next book. I hope you'll like it too!

Re: Knightley Academy-- I have no idea how many books will be in the series. From what I can tell it should be longer than a trilogy, more like Harry Potter or Charlie Bone. That's just my own guess, though!

I say it's about time to read 'Knightley Academy'! It's *really* good!

On Angelfire-l read it two weeks ago and LOVED it! It has a pretty decent ending-- not anything to cliffhanger-y! You'll want to read more, yes, but it's not a book that stops in the middle of an important event like, say, Nightshade... :p When you read it, check out my review and let me know what you thought of it! Seriously, I read it like a speed demon.

Books for Company, Oh, yes that might be it. I didn’t even think about that, but smaller pages (or larger margins/spacing?) could be why.

Lost in Literature, Yay! I hope you enjoy it :)

Brooke, Thanks for the info about the ending. I’ll be sure to let you know how I like it! Thanks for the info re: Knightly Academy. I love that you mention Charlie Bone. Such an overlooked but fun series. I really need to finish that series!